Monday, February 2, 2015

The Definition of Whimsy (Who Let the Cats Out?)

Trying to think of how to title this post showing my four latest paintings, I kept coming up with the word 'whimsy'....( \ hwim-ze \ n. 1 : WHIM, CAPRICE 2 : a fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation esp. in writing or art )

These first two paintings are studies for a larger triptych on canvas. I knew I wanted tall trees that started from below the image area. So I began by drawing those in, then the little cat showed up on this one first, and the trees and birds followed in the same playful style. I was having a lot of fun!

Both paintings are 12"X 18", mostly acrylic with charcoal pencil. The dark areas on the bottom (colored black intentionally to go with my intention to have more contrasting values in my paintings) are covered with sewing pattern tissue applied to the watercolor paper with matte medium.

I don't usually title my paintings, but I thought I could call these the "Who let the cats out?" series.

The dog and cat, also 12"X 18", were inspired by the little cats in the previous paintings. I wanted to see how that image would work on a larger scale. The dog, to go with the cat (I generally work on two paintings this size at the same time side-by-side on a single sheet of watercolor paper) came from a smaller piece I came up with as part of a series of 24 6X8 shadow boxes, so that I would have a "low-end" item for the ACC show this month. Pictures of the two dog designs are below.

This painting has the sewing pattern tissue over the whole dog and the green ground, to add texture and interest to the surface.

Same with the cat body and ground. In fact some of the lines from the pattern still show through the paint.

Here are two dog designs from the series of 24 shadow boxes I came up with for the show. These are prints of my paintings with windows cut out to show a word or phrase. The little bone is made of polymer clay and painted.

Other pieces in the series have various themes such as cats, horses, cooking, the beach, friends, love, garden, and inspirational. I'm working on a new website and they will be featured there along with my paintings. Don't worry, I let you know all about it!